Civil War

The battle between Redburr's forces and those of the Duke and Duchess of Westmark, begins.

8.

Civil War

 

Their time with Sophia, Khord and Eioldth wasn’t long, for they had received instructions from Yesh on how long they would be allowed to stay in Synomenia.

So after several short hours of reunion, the trio returned to Flux, leaving Aurei with a lighter heart, but still longing to see her daughters, while Zeatt had begged Sophia to seek permission to come back to Flux again before her babies were born.

 

Eleazar too was greatly encouraged by the knowledge that his three dear daughters were well and happy in Flux.  He kept his sadness private (though Aurei would of course know) as the seriousness of war was advancing to their very doorsteps.

 

So after the trios’ departure, he quietly left the women and along with Sir Alvis, returned to the preparations for the upcoming onslaught.

 

***

 

An hour before dawn, they were all ready, and Eleazar stood on the eastern wall, along side Alvis, Aeric and General Luca, who had commanded the Royal forces under Haroldris and Eioldth.

“What do you think, General?”   Eleazar asked the older man.

“Well, with King Travin’s archers and a surprisingly large show of local militia to support us, I’d say we have a good fighting chance of repelling Redburr.   Of course he could have magic we don’t know about.”

“We have magic that they don’t know about.” Aeric responded, glancing at his old friend.

“Aeric, we’ve been over that several times.   You know it won’t work.”

“Not until you try, I don’t.   Why are you so hesitant?”

“I’m hesitant because I am merely defending what belongs to Aurei and I, and my responsibility is to the good people of Westmark and Dullerm.”

“Well I see people from all over Northmarch here, all loyal to you and willing to die to support you.”

Eleazar nodded, looking down at his armored hands, “I am extremely humbled by that, Aeric, but I am not who they need or want for a King.”

“Then who, Eleazar?   Redburr, perhaps?”

 

Before the half-Drow could reply, they heard a loud commotion behind them and they turned to find Aurei, Zeatt, Allea, Alis and Abigae joining them.   All the ladies were wearing armor and carrying weapons, but the commotion was with the large group of Orcs escorting them.   They were members of the Queen’s Honor Guard and their Captain was having a heated argument with Aurei.

 

“I’m telling you, we don’t need your protection, Captain Bruce!” She exclaimed as they walked up to the men.

“What’s going on?” Eleazar asked his wife, thankful that she seemed to have regained the fire in her eyes.

“Captain Bruce and his men won’t leave us alone!   They’re shadowing us everywhere we go, and he claims it is his duty!   Did you ask them to do this?”

“No, I’m as confused as you are.”   Eleazar turned to the large Orc, “Captain Bruce, what is this all about?”

“Simple, sir.   My men’s job was always to guard the Queen and her Ladies-in-Waiting.   With Queen Eioldth gone, our task is now to guard Her Grace.”

“Captain, I appreciate this, but Aurei is not a Queen, nor am I King.”

 

The Orc smiled as if he disagreed but was too respectful to say anything.   Aurei sighed at his response, but Aeric chuckled, “See?”

“Captain Bruce, do you really think it is proper to build us up like this?   We are only trying to defend ourselves and our lands.”

The Orc Captain took a moment, and then replied, “Sir, my family has served the Queen of Northmarch for several generations.   My father’s grandparents were friends of you and your lady and lived here among you.   I have always heard wonderful stories about the Duke and Duchess of Westmark and Dullerm and I see no offense to honor those whom my great grandparents held in such high esteem.”

“Who were your great grandparents?”   Aurei asked, though from the gleam in her eyes, she already knew exactly the names he would say.

“Lute was my great grandfather; he was not an Orc but half human and half Ogre.   Siris was my great grandmother, and she was an Orc.   Do you remember them, Your Grace?”

Aurei’s eyes twinkled with tears, “Captain Bruce, they were dear, dear friends of mine, who I loved like family.   I remember them as if I had spoken to them yesterday.   So your grandfather was their son, Mallen?”

 

The Big Orc smiled, “Yes, Your Grace.   He always spoke highly of you and Duke Eleazar.   He always told Lysa and I how he had partially regretted moving to King’s Reach, but that you had encouraged him to do so, as you felt he would make a fine officer in Queen Eioldth’s Honor Guard.”

“Obviously, he created a legacy of service.”

Captain Bruce nodded, “Which is why we wish to guard you, Your Grace.   You were always Her Majesty’s favorite Duke and Duchess and I know she was a dear friend to you.   You have championed the cause for all demi-humans, just as Queen Eioldth did, and you are, by far, the most worthy of the title of Queen of Northmarch of any of the noblewomen in the Kingdom.”

“I will be even bolder, if I may; I have spoken to many in the convoy from King’s Reach, and every one of them has placed their hopes in Duke Eleazar.”

 

Eleazar shook his head, still looking at his hands, “They are grasping at straws, Captain.”

 

The Orc snorted, “Not, so, Your Grace!   They are far from hopeless and desperate.  They see the will of Yesh upon you!   They know, Your Grace!”

“What do they know, Captain?”

“They know Yesh desires you to be the next King of Northmarch.”

“You are being too bold, Captain; I have no desire for that title.”

“But if it is the will of Yesh, what will you do, Your Grace?”

 

Eleazar didn’t respond, but kept looking at his hands for a long moment.  Finally he sighed and looked up with a slight smile, “I will do whatever Yesh asks of me, but not before he asks, Captain.   Very well, guard my wife and her friends.”

“Now wait just a moment!” Aurei said, “I am NOT going to just stand around wringing my hands on the parapet, while the fate of my home is in jeopardy!”

The other ladies with her all voiced their agreement to her words.

Eleazar just smiled and shrugged at the Orc Captain, “Keep up with them if you can, Captain Bruce.   She’ll be right in the thick of battle.”

 

The Orc captain nodded, “Then that is where I and my men will be also.”

 

Right then the alarm went up from the sentries closest to the front and the sound of trumpets was heard.   Redburr’s forces had arrived.

***

 

Within minutes, the battle had begun.   Out of the pre-dawn light came the massive army, and their numbers stunned most of the defenders as they marched forward, stopping just out of bow shot.

 

Not long afterwards, several hundred lightly armored men carrying javelins came out of the mass of men.   It was a technique of the Imperial Army; to send a volley or two of javelins into the enemy ranks, to loosen them up before the infantry advanced.   Though the Westmark and Dullerm forces stood on the walls of Westmark’s defenses, their numbers were not nearly as large as Redburr’s army and could not withstand even moderate losses.

 

Those facing them were not Imperial legions, but their javelins would be nearly as deadly.

However they never got that chance to throw them.   For as soon as they came within longbow range, King Travin’s archers, who were concealed on the ground in front of the wall, hiding in the early morning shadows of a bend in the eastern wall, let loose with a massive volley of arrows.

Their aim was terribly accurate and about 200 of the javelin throwers fell to the ground.   The others immediately retreated back out of range.

 

There was just a brief lull as the javelin throwers regrouped, and then they reappeared, charging forward quickly as they rushed at the position of the Sylvan archers.

 

But it was a foolish maneuver and almost half of them fell wounded or dead to the ground before they again pulled back.   Only a handful had got close enough to throw a javelin, and very few of the Wood Elves had been injured in that exchange.

“Foolish,” Eleazar said out loud to the men around him as they watched near the eastern gate to the city, “A waste of troops, trying to dislodge archers.”

“I think they have something else in mind by this strategy,” General Luca replied, looking somewhat worried, “I know they have some top strategic planners in their command ranks.”

“It doesn’t look like they are being listened to here.”  Aeric commented.

“Don’t be so sure, Sir Aeric.   King Travin’s men are concealed - for now- by the shadow of the wall, but when the sun gets a bit higher, they will be highlighted against it and easy targets.   I fear they could be massacred if Redburr’s captains were to send their heavy infantry against them.”

“We should pull them back now, inside the gates.”  Eleazar said, but as he was saying this, there came a shift in the lines of Redburr’s soldiers.   Suddenly their cavalry appeared -- several hundred strong- and lined up, preparing for a charge.

“This is not good,”  General Luca said grimly, “They’re preparing a cavalry charge - they’ll have archers firing over them, into the Sylvan ranks, to give them time to close in on them, and behind the cavaliers will come their heavy infantry.   King Travin’s men won’t be able to stop them all.”

“We must go to their aid!”  Eleazar announced, spinning on his heels to rush to the gate.

“Your Grace, wait!   This could be a ploy to draw you out!”   General Luca called after the half-Drow Paladin, but he was already halfway down the parapet stairs, with Duchess Aurei, Sir Aeric, his wife and son loyally following him.   To the General’s relief, the Orcs of the Queen’s honor guard went with them, as well as many of the young knights of Westmark and Dullerm.

 

 

***

 

As General Luca anticipated,  Redburr’s archers began sending volleys of arrows over the ranks of their horsemen before the Duke and his group made it through the gate.   Luca ordered the Dullerm archers positioned on the Westmark walls to target Redburr’s cavaliers, but the heavily armored knights were mostly uninjured by their volley.

 

Meanwhile, Redburr’s archers had forced the Sylvan archers back against the wall, though only a few were actually injured by the arrows.    But that hadn’t been the hopes of Redburr’s generals;  instead they had hoped to keep the Wood Elves from firing into their ranks.

 

From behind the charging horsemen, the heavy infantry began advancing quickly; moving as fast as their heavily armored forms could.   They were unopposed by the Sylvan archers, though a few fell from an occasional hit by Dullerm’s archers.

 

Eleazar and his group didn’t hesitate a moment though and rushed through the gates, which he had ordered to be quickly closed behind them.   The half-Drow knew that General Luca was probably right; it very likely was a ploy to get him and Aurei outside of the protection of the gate, where they would be swarmed by Redburr’s men.

But he was a Paladin of Yesh and he could not leave an ally unassisted, even in a setting of a larger battle.

As soon as the gate opened, Redburr’s cavalry shifted slightly in their charge and directed their left flank toward them, while the right flank still advanced upon King Travin’s men.

 

Still, Eleazar rushed forward, yelling for those following him to stay as close to the wall as they could.   He knew that the horsemen would have to check their charge as they neared the wall, and it was his hope to join up with King Travin’s Wood Elves before the cavaliers reached them.

 

They nearly made it; suddenly the arrows coming at them stopped as Redburr’s archers stopped firing when their men neared their range.   Eleazar yelled for his group to turn and stand, and they all quickly complied; backing against the wall with their weapons and shields up as the horsemen reached them.

 

His strategy was correct, for the horsemen reined in at the last minute and though they still had the advantage of being on horses with long lances and spears, they would not get past them.   Yet his biggest worry was the mass of infantry that was rushing forward behind them.   They would only have a brief time before they arrived, and he hoped to dispatch as many of the horsemen as he could.

 

Redburr’s cavalry attacked savagely.   They seemed to be targeting the half-Drow and Aurei, but both had plenty of experience in battle as well as strong armor.

 

Eleazar dodged a lance thrust by one cavalier and chopped at it with his great sword.   The lance was cleaved in two and before the startled horseman could react, Eleazar had nearly taken the man’s left leg off as Valere - his greatly enchanted Holy Sword, easily sliced through the plate armor of the cavalier.

 

The man let out a horrible scream from his injury and fell off his horse.   Eleazar was sickened at having to battle men that were allies only a few weeks before, yet he knew their lives were all at stake here.

 

Another horseman came at him from his side, but Aurei defended him.   She wore the purplish black Drow armor of one of her aunts and wielded a sword in each hand.   Batting the lance aside with one sword, she lunged forward and chopped at the hand holding the lance with her own Holy Sword, ‘Egregie.   The sword seemed to be on fire, as orange-yellow flames covered the blade, and it cut through the wrist of the horseman, amputating it.   Before he could pull away from her, her other enchanted sword found a gap in his chest armor and he tumbled from the horse, dead.

 

They were spread out in a line against the wall and all of them were holding their own against Redburr’s cavalry.   But they were being detained from assisting King Travin, and the half-Drow Duke knew that the Sylvan Elves were very lightly armored.   They would not have as much success against the cavaliers.

 

Yet try as they might, they couldn’t push Redburr’s men back enough to advance down the wall to reach them.   As Eleazar hacked down his fifth horseman, he glanced out past the throng of cavaliers to see that the heavy infantry had now arrived.

 

King Travin and his Elves would have to hold their own.

 

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"...but just kept looking at his hands for a long moment." You can omit "just."
"...before the infantry advances." This should be "advanced."
"...moving as fast as their heavily armored forms could move." You can leave out "move."

It was so wonderful hearing of Aurei's friends from the other series...almost like hearing about my own dear friends. I fear I become far too attached to my fictional characters.

[Eddie Davis]

I'm like that as well, in fact, that was one of the problems with 'Forging' is that I had about 16 characters in it that I was trying to write about at the same time.